Etymologically
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qualunque

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Pronunciation

  • /kwaˈlun.kwe/[1]

Forms

qualunque (invariable)[1] Old forms include qualunqua (12th–13th century), Pisan and Old Lombard qualumca, Old Perugian qualunqua with the plural qualunqui, Old Pistoian qualunco and Old Palermitan qualunquatu (1343).[2][3][4] Qualunche is an old variant.[5][6]

Etymology

It is formed in from Italian quale + -unque, on the model of Latin quāliscumque (“of whatever kind”).[4][7][1] Nocentini describes it as a Romance formation in which the Latin suffix -cumque (“-ever”) of the model was blended with umquam (“ever”).[3] DEI likewise speaks of the second element of the Latin pronoun being replaced by the adverb, and compares quantunque.[2] French quelconque is a similar formation.[3][1]

Latin quāliscumque is itself formed from quālis (“of what kind”) and the indefinite ending, from cumque (“whenever, however”).[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT and the Devoto–Oli date the old form qualunqua to the second half of the 12th century (GRADIT: 1171).[4][7][3] DELI's first record of the adjective is the Breve di Montieri (1219), a Tuscan statute, in the sense “one or another, without distinction”.[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Italian qualunque could also stand alone as a pronoun meaning “whoever”, as in Dante's “batte col remo qualunque s'adagia” (he strikes with his oar whoever lingers); this use is now archaic.[4][7][6] Phrases such as qualunque volta and qualunque otta “every time that” are also obsolete.[10][11] The word could once be plural, as in Boccaccio's “O qualunque cavalieri”, but the modern language treats it as invariable and uses it in the singular.[12][10]

Placed after a noun it took on a slighting sense, “ordinary, of no account”.[4][5] The phrase l'uomo qualunque “the man in the street” became the title of Guglielmo Giannini's newspaper L'Uomo Qualunque, which gave its name to a political movement founded in 1944;[3] qualunquismo and qualunquista (1945), come from it.[3] A recent southern and slang use, la qualunque “anything at all”, leaves out the noun.[7]

Timeline

  • 1171 – GRADIT's date for the old form qualunqua.[4]
  • 1219 – Qualunque appears in the Breve di Montieri.[9]
  • 1343 – Old Palermitan qualunquatu is recorded.[2]
  • 1945 – Qualunquismo and qualunquista are recorded.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. any, whichever, one or another without distinction (singular, before the noun): Passa pure a qualunque ora.[4][7][5][10]
  2. Every, any whatever (emphatic): Sarebbe pronta a qualunque sacrificio per i figli.[7][10][6]
  3. After the noun, ordinary, commonplace, of no special quality: Non è un cuoco qualunque.[4][7][5][10]
  4. Relative, introducing a clause with the subjunctive: whatever, whichever: Qualunque cosa tu decida, ti aiuterò.[4][7][5][10]

Pronoun

  1. (archaic) Whoever.[4][6][11]

Word family

  • qualunquismo
  • qualunquista
  • qualunquistico

Usage notes

Qualunque and qualsiasi are synonyms.[4][5] Fixed phrases include a qualunque costo “at any cost” and l'uomo qualunque “the average man”.[4][6] In popular and older use the relative clause may have the indicative instead of the subjunctive.[4][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3170
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
  5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
  6. ^ a b c d e Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
  8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
  11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
  12. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET